Thursday, December 4, 2014

Measuring success in sport and in life

Sports is about winning. Right?

Watch any championship game. There is a clear definition of a winner and a loser. The winner screams in jubilation while the opponent hangs their heads in defeat.

John Wooden, legendary coach at UCLA, states that success cannot be measured by the number of wins. "Don't worry about whether you're better than somebody else, but never cease trying to be the best you can become.  You have control over that; the other you don't."

Success isn't based on winning. It's based on growth. It's based on becoming the best we can be.

Sounds like the idea behind youth soccer.

Kids soccer was set up for participation where everyone gets a medal. Ask my 8 year old about last summer's soccer season and he will say they won the championship. There was no championship. There weren't any playoffs. We weren't even supposed to keep score. I sat and watched, while drinking my iced water, to witness the psychoness of sport emerge in little kids and grown parents.

Children can't be taught that sport isn't about winning if parents don't believe it.

If you ask anyone if life is a race, they will say no. Talk is cheap. Observe what they do instead. We don't wait to save money to buy that shiny toy. We wait to pay off the credit card bill instead. Instant gratification until the next desired shiny toy comes along.

Life isn't a race, but we act like it is. We know we can't win at the race called life, but we try.

We crazy!

The only way we achieve success is if we fulfill our potential. The only question that matters is "What is your potential?"


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